Eat The Press

ABC World News Tonight

Newsbriefs: Institute of Official Cheer

Jason Linkins |  Posted Tuesday May 8, 2007 at 08:07 PM

Internally here at Eat The Press, we've wondered: Charlie Gibson--nice guy, eminently trustable, leading ABC News to something of a resurgence...why isn't he walking around with a Brian Williams sort of heat? It's like he's inherited that same "middle child" syndrome that his predecessor Peter Jennings had--though Pete competed with Tom "The Greatest Generation" Brokaw and the Majordomo of Metaphor, Dan Rather. It's perplexed us, but, in today's Gibson interview with the Chron, we caught a glimpse of what could be the problem:

The past few weeks have posed a couple of major ethical questions for the nation's evening news producers. Last month, Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech University student who shot 32 people on campus, sent a multimedia manifesto about his actions to NBC News. The network aired some of Cho's self-photographed video footage and excerpted from his rambling written statements.

Cho offered no reason why he sent NBC the package. Gibson learned what his competitor had at 3:30 p.m., the day it aired.

"My first reaction was, 'Oh, damn. I wish he had sent it to us instead of them. And I was sort of cursing the news gods. Then about one and a half hours later, I thought, 'Boy I'm glad he did that to them and not to us because they have got a really, really tricky decision on their hands.' "

Gibson says if Cho had sent ABC his manifesto he probably would have sought to air parts of it.

"Is there value and worth in seeing that? A lot of people said no. But I think there is," he says. Perhaps, he adds, the information could lead to helping someone else in extreme mental pain get better treatment.

That's when it hit us: is this the first time Gibson has weighed in on this matter, or just the highest profile discussion of this he's offered? Either way...Charlie, Charlie...you can't be the last man into the pool on the big media issues of the day, man! You've got the viewers, friend: so hold forth, and do so in a timely fashion. Please don't make us wait till September to tell us whether you think Murdoch taking over the Dow is a big mistake.

Come spread some cheer with us, after the jump:

• Anyway, cheer up, Charlie Gibson! Over at NBC, Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News have posted "their lowest demo viewership in twenty years."
• Anyway, cheer up, Brian Williams and the NBC Nightly News! Over at CBS, Katie Couric and the CBS Evening News have posted their "lowest viewership in at least twenty years."
• And, hey, cheer up, James Lileks! Maybe your sudden re-assignment to filing copy on local news for the Minneapolis Star Trib seems like a kick in the teeth (though we cannot wait for your take on the hoary "Boil Water Advisory"), but if you look at the bright side, your demotion is just a sign that your campaign against the MSM is finally working! Anyway, Nancy Nall has some good advice for you, so count your blessings.
• And cheer up, America! Nancy Grace is leaving Court TV! Unfortunately, she says she's going to "focus on her Headline News program and...charitable endeavors." We think her HLN program is, at best, a charitable endeavor: maybe she does, as well.